This invention relates in general to a female contact for an electrical connector that can be used, for example, to connect a battery in an electric vehicle to a source of electrical energy. In particular, this invention relates to an improved structure for such a female contact that provides for increased durability and current carrying capacity, while simplifying the production and assembly thereof.
Electric and hybrid electric vehicles are typically propelled by an electric motor that draws current from an on-board battery. In order to maintain a sufficient amount of electrical energy in the battery to operate the electric motor, it is usually desirable to connect the battery to a source of electrical energy and thereby replenish the amount of electrical energy stored therein. To facilitate this, it is known to provide respective electrical charging connectors on both the vehicle and the source of electrical energy. The electrical charging connectors cooperate with one another so that the source of electrical energy can be quickly and easily connected to and removed from the vehicle to facilitate recharging of the battery for subsequent use by the electric motor.
In some instances, the electrical charging connectors provided on the vehicle and the source of electrical energy includes respective male and female electrical connectors. Typically, the male electrical connectors includes one or more protruding portions that are sized and shaped to be received within respective receptacle portions provided on the female electrical connectors. A wide variety of these male and female electrical connectors are known in the art. Generally speaking, the female electrical connector includes a cylindrical housing having a female contact secured therein. The female contact may include a body portion and a plurality of flexible beams that extend axially therefrom. The flexible beams are angled inwardly from the body portion so as to receive and frictionally engage an outer surface of the male electrical connector when inserted therein.
It is known that the current carrying capacity of the assembly of the male and female electrical connectors is related to both the electrical conductivity of the material used to form the connectors and the magnitude of the engagement force exerted therebetween. To establish good electrical conductivity, it is common to form electrical contacts from copper. However, the magnitude of the engagement force exerted by copper can be undesirably reduced as a result of increased temperatures (caused by heat generated by the flow of electricity therethrough) and fatigue (caused by repetitive deflection of the beams due to repeated use). Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved structure for a female contact that provides for increased durability and current carrying capacity, yet which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture.